1. Field of the Invention
Exemplary embodiments of the invention relate to a backlight assembly and a method of assembling a backlight assembly. More particularly, exemplary embodiments of the invention relate to a backlight assembly used for a display apparatus and a method of assembling a backlight assembly.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a display apparatus includes a display panel displaying an image using light and a backlight assembly providing the light to the display panel. The display panel includes a display substrate including a thin-film transistor (“TFT”) for driving a pixel and an opposite substrate facing the display substrate. The display panel includes a liquid crystal layer including liquid crystal molecules as a display element interposed between the display substrate and the opposite substrate. When a voltage is applied to the liquid crystal layer, the liquid crystal molecules control a transmittance of light provided from the backlight assembly so that the display apparatus may display the image.
When the backlight assembly is an edge-illumination type, the backlight assembly includes a light-emitting unit generating light and a light guide plate for efficiently guiding the light received from the light-emitting unit to the display panel. As a light source of the light-emitting unit, a light-emitting diode having high luminance is generally used. A plurality of the light-emitting diodes is spaced apart from each other to be arranged in all directions by a predetermined distance, which is different from a cold cathode fluorescent lamp (“CCFL”). An incident surface of the light guide plate may be divided into first regions facing each of the light-emitting diodes and second regions facing separate regions between the light-emitting diodes. A distance between the light-emitting diodes and the incident surface is a factor of determining a light efficiency of the backlight assembly based on an amount of the light lost to an outside of the backlight assembly.
However, when the number of the light-emitting diodes is increased, the light guide plate is thermally expanded by heat emitted from the light-emitting diodes to change the distance between the light-emitting diodes and the light guide plate or to deform a shape of the light guide plate. Thus, the amount of the light lost between the light-emitting diodes and the light guide plate is increased so that luminance of the light may be decreased. In addition, the luminance differs between the first regions directly receiving the light and the second regions indirectly receiving the light, so that the luminance may be non-uniform.